Winning Duels and Making new Friends

Mai was impressed with Yugi's victory, but not completely satisfied. Other than that, as much as she enjoyed tormenting her own opponents, she didn't feel like she was being challenged. After winning a few of her own duels and acquiring five star chips, Mai decided to take advantage of the matter.

When she met up with Yugi and the gang, she told them how eager she was for another duel. Having had enough of her obnoxious attitude, Téa insisted that Yugi should take her on and eliminate her from the contest. But Mai actually wanted to take on Joey. Like the tactic of many other duelists, Mai always took out those she deemed weak and saved the best for last.

At first, Joey didn't seem too sure, but he accepted her challenge. He knew he would have to face his first duel sooner or later. What he was really afraid of was losing his only star chip and his only chance of helping Serenity. By wanting to take part in the tournament, he promised to do everything he could to keep her from losing her sight. Serenity has looked up to Joey all her life and Joey knew that being her big brother, it was his job to take care of her and always be there for her. Although he was nervous, he wouldn't let that stand in his way.

That was when Joey asked Mai what she was dueling for. On a selfish note, Mai was in it for the prizes. She enjoyed the wealth the prize money offered so she could spend it on many luxuries like fine jewelry, designer clothes, and travel perks. Mai was just one of the many people who enjoyed living large without having to work for anything. Disgusted with Mai's answer, Joey told her that there was a lot more to fight for than just things. But knowing she would just stubbornly refuse to listen to reason, Joey figured the only way to get through to her was to duel her. So finally, he got his determination and told Mai to bring it on.

The dueling arena was divided into three different landscapes: mountain, meadow, and forest. Joey's deck was built up with mostly warrior-type monsters and would get a field power bonus from the meadow. As for Mai, she had ways of intimidating her opponents starting with a few tricks. Instead of holding her cards in her hand, she laid them all face down on the table. Then she began humming and slowly moving her hands above them. Finally, she played her monster, a winged beast called Harpy Lady. Not only did the mountain landscape provide a field power bonus, but it was resistant to the attacks of earth-based monsters like Joey's warriors.

As the duel continued, Mai powered up her Harpy Lady and played every move like she really was psychic, causing Joey to lose his concentration and his patience. He couldn't even play a single monster to match Mai's Harpy Lady. Tristan, Téa, and Emily saw that Joey was in trouble and needed help, but didn't know what to do. Yugi decided to talk some sense into Joey to help him keep it together and keep Mai from getting into his head. Finally, Joey took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes to try to relax. Just then, Joey noticed a strange scent wafting through the area; many different scents. Now he was onto Mai's game. All of the cards in her deck had been sprayed with different perfumes so she could tell which one was which. That didn't change the duel itself, however. It was still in Mai's favor and she now had three Harpy Ladies in play.

Thinking about how the entire duel has been played out, Joey noticed that Mai had only been battling with one monster and using all of her cards to support that one monster. Joey started to wonder if he found the fatal flaw in Mai's deck. But still, he didn't know if he could find a way to defeat the three Harpy Ladies. The odds were against him, but he had to believe in his deck. And his belief came through for him as he drew the card Yugi gave him. So he played his Baby Dragon and Time Wizard together. The Wizard's Time Magic caused a millennium to pass, aging Joey's Baby Dragon into Thousand Dragon and crippling Mai's Harpies. And with that one attack, all of Mai's life points went down to zero.

Mai was disappointed with herself for her loss, but it wasn't a total loss for she lost only one star chip. But still, she wondered if her way was the wrong way after all. She always enjoyed her victories, but didn't actually think she could learn anything from her losses. Confused, she kept quiet. She didn't even whine or complain about her defeat. Yugi and the others, on the other hand, were proud of Joey for his victory. He really had changed a lot over these past few days. He went from a guy with nothing but eagerness and attitude to a guy who fights with his strength and his heart.

Proud of himself for his first victory, Joey continued to boast and brag. It was starting to become very irritating for the others. Not only that, but everybody found themselves feeling tired and hungry. None of them had actually eaten anything since yesterday and dueling actually took it out on them. Joey and Yugi needed their strength. Nobody was sure what to do. They didn't bring anything with them to eat and hadn't seen any stands or restaurants. Again, Joey's sense of smell started to kick in as he smelled something cooking.

Joey's nose led him and his friends to a cliff on the island where fish was sitting near a fire as it was being cooked. An empty stomach was never something Joey or Tristan could ignore. Téa and Emily, on the other hand, had more self-control and always thought before acting. They had to consider that just because the fish was just left to sit, didn't mean that it was theirs to take. But Joey and Tristan would learn that the hard way and the meal's rightful owner climbed up the cliff.

Yugi recognized him right away. He was Mako Tsunami, the ocean duelist who ranked third in the regional tournament. He seemed scary at first when he started scolding Joey and Tristan for stealing his lunch, but he turned out to be a nice guy after Yugi introduced himself. After that, Mako felt happy to share his meal with the gang.

With full stomachs and their strength back, Yugi and the gang were ready to head out, but Mako stopped them. It turned out that he had done this with his previous opponents. He would treat them to a meal or a snack in exchange for a duel and this was no different. He was looking forward to a match with Yugi. Yami took over and accepted Mako's challenge and a dueling arena appeared before them. The landscape of the arena was laid out like a beach. Yugi's deck didn't contain sea-based monsters and could only fight on land. That was of no concern to Mako. The ocean was his home field advantage.

They each wagered two star chips. Yami knew right away that he had to be careful for the ocean would conceal all of Mako's monsters and he wouldn't know what he would be up against. For starters, he summoned the Horn Imp in attack mode. Mako played his monster in attack mode as well. It was called Fiend Kracken and it squeezed the life out of Yami's beast as well as the life points out of him. Since Yami couldn't see Mako's monster, a head-on attack was pointless. So he decided to try a combo attack and summoned the Feral Imp. But this was a combo Mako was very familiar with, so he played a Jellyfish. Without thinking or taking any chances, Yami played his Horn of the Unicorn to raise his Imp's attack power and attack with Magic Lightning. Being a sea-based duelist, Mako knew the strengths and weaknesses of the creatures that inhabited the ocean. The fact that his monsters were weak against electricity and that water conducted electricity was a no-brainer for Mako. That was why he played his Jellyfish; its ability included the power to absorb electricity.

Every lesson Mako learned made him reflect the harsh pain of his life. His life began with the sea and his father was one of the strongest and courageous fishermen he ever knew. Mako knew that sometimes the ocean can be a friend, but can also be a foe. Just as humans have emotions and express them in different ways, so does the sea. Mako had learned to be strong and to learn from his challenges after losing his father to that terrible storm. That was why he was in the tournament; to win and one day have a vessel of his own to search for his lost father.

Everyone was touched by Mako's story. Even Yami's heart went out to him. They both dueled for a loved one and would do everything for that loved one. That was why neither of them would hold back. They agreed to give it their all and duel honorably. With that being settled, Yami decided he had to be adaptive with the sea if he was to learn all of its strengths and weaknesses. So he played a wolf called Silver Fang and raised its attack points with the Mystical Moon magic card. But the card also benefited Mako as it raised the tides and left Yami with little land to stand on. Mako played another sea-based monster, a blue eel called Kyuri-oshin. The tides carried the wolf away and the eel squeezed the life out of him.

To defend his life points, Yami played the Giant Soldier of Stone. Mako continued to build up his arsenal by summoning Great White Terror to the field. As the mightiest creature of the sea, the shark had the power to command Mako's other monsters and lead them for an onslaught. But Yami found a way to turn the duel around. He switched his Soldier into attack mode and destroyed the Moon he played himself, causing the tides to recede and the ocean to be drained. Now the stage was set for the final assault. Yami summoned his Curse of Dragon and combined it with the Burning Land card to raise its power and destroy all of Mako's monsters and his life points.

Mako was sad for his loss, but at the same time, he was happy that he got to play such a thrilling duel. Besides, he wasn't out of the tournament yet. But he decided to start over again. Yami knew for certain that he would do well and become stronger. The others just couldn't help but like Mako. He was a good sport and they didn't always come across people like that. And although he was serious and sounded a little dramatic, he had a gentle side as well. That made them hope that he would find his father someday. They even knew for sure that they would be meeting their new friend again.

With that being settled, Yugi and Mako shook hands and started to go their own ways. Mako found himself feeling hungry again and went back into the ocean to swim and catch more fish. Everyone else was still satisfied from their fill and ready to explore the rest of the island for new competition.